“What do you mean, ‘our discretion’?” Gus Tracy asked his face puzzled.
Jericho closed the file folder he held and pressed it to his chest. “That’s exactly what I said. Rather, what I was told. Apollo didn’t just turn against the Colonel or the Squads in general; he turned against each and every one of you.” He shook his head as he looked at each of the operators. “I don’t envy your decision either way. Bring him back to face eternity behind bars and in silver shackles or drop him. Not an easy choice.”
Donovan shook his head. “That’s not justice. That’s murder. He’s not a monster.”
Wallace turned and gave him a cockeyed look. “I think Carbone might disagree with you on that.”
“Along with all of the techs and security forces that bit it that night.” Lamb’s mouth was a tight line as he leaned against the back wall of the briefing room.
“Are we really considering this?” Spalding stepped forward and turned to face the crowd. “Apollo was one of us. He was a team player. He trained with us, bled with us…”
“He turned against us.” Wallace crossed his arms over his chest. “Look, I know you worked with him a lot longer than most of us, but the fact is, he’s a wolf, he turned against the squads and he got good men killed. Not just here, but at the island where Phoenix and Mueller live.”
“And if it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have the Intel that we have now.” Spalding stepped back and spread his arms wide. “Tell me that none of you have ever made a mistake in your life? In your entire life you’ve never screwed up?”
“I never opened fire on my buddies.” Wallace refused to back down. “I never led a team of assassins to where my brothers lived and trained and let them loose on them. That’s FUBAR man, and you know it.”
“The guy was messed up in the head.” Spalding tried to plead with the men. “He was torn up over Maria and this jack-off Sheridan got to him. Twisted him all up and…messed with his head.”
“Tell me something, Spank.” Jacobs stepped forward, his eyes red. “Could anybody mess with your head enough to make you go rogue on us?”
Spanky opened his mouth to reply but held his tongue. He lowered his eyes and shook his head. “No.”
Jacobs laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Look, I’m not saying we need to mow Apollo down. I’m not. I’m not saying we need to bring him back in chains either.” He turned and looked at the rest of the group. “But maybe…just maybe, there is another choice here. I say banishment is the best option here. Just, cut him loose. Have nothing more to do with him. Forget he was ever one of us and leave him to his own devices. If he resurfaces later and he’s a threat to humanity, then we do what we do best. But if he doesn’t? If he fades into the darkness and disappears…maybe finds a pack or something and just stays away, then we let him.”
Spalding looked up at Jacobs then scanned the room seeing the other operators’ heads bobbing in agreement. “I like that idea, Ing.” Spalding looked from man to man. “It’s all or nothing. Either we’re all in this together or we’re not. It has to be unanimous.”
“Banishment.” Lamb nodded then looked to the man next to him. Each repeated the vote until it was unanimous throughout the room.
Jacobs smiled and squeezed Spalding’s shoulder tighter. “Then banishment it is. You fought hardest for him, Spanky. I think you should explain it to him.”
Spalding lowered his eyes, grateful that a solution was found that allowed his friend to live. “Gladly.”
*****
Gaius stepped out of Lilith’s room covered in sweat, bloody scratches and bite marks. He made no effort to cover his nakedness as he strode toward Damien. “You!” He pointed to Damien cowering in the shadows. “Water and wine. Now.”
He turned back toward the room as Damien came to his feet, his anger rising as he did. “I’m not a slave.”
Gaius stopped in midstep and turned to face the trembling vampire. “Did you dare speak back to me?”
“You heard me. If you want something to drink, get it yourself.” Damien caught his breath and stuck his chest out.
Gaius tilted his head as he considered the little vampire. He suddenly tilted his head back and laughed. A deep, dark, throaty laugh that made Damien’s anger rise even further. When he stopped laughing, he wiped at his eyes then crossed his arms over his chest. “You will do as I say, little ghoul, or meet the true death.”
“The true death would be preferable to being a slave to a demon.”
Gaius smiled as he walked slowly toward him. Damien did his best to keep his eyes on the man’s face, but he instinctively lowered his eyes to what dangled below his waist, his curiosity getting the better of him. “Like what you see, little ghoul?”
Damien’s eyes shot back up to the demon’s face, and he nearly took a step back. Red, glowing eyes stared back at him, a grey, smoldering smoke wisping from the sides of his face. “Y-you don’t scare me.”
“Yes I do.” Gaius raised a hand toward Damien and outstretched his fingers. Damien felt something compel his body to go rigid. “Kneel before me, little ghoul.” As Gaius lowered his hand, Damien felt his legs grow weak and his body slowly lower to the ground.
“N-no…I won’t.” His voice cracked as he cried through gritted teeth, every fiber of his being fighting against the unseen pull of the demon before him.
“Ah, but you already have.” Gaius stepped directly in front of Damien and swung his hips back and forth, smacking Damien in the face with his wet, sticky, flaccid penis. “I told you to get water and wine. And you will do it. Or you’ll find out just how much stamina this body has left in it.” Gaius laughed again as his manhood began to swell with each slap against the vampire’s face.
Damien fought to not reply lest he get a mouthful of something that he’d rather not. The demon continued to torture and humiliate him, slapping him unmercifully with his member.
“Gaius, don’t tease him. He is a flesh eater, you know.” Lilith’s voice called from behind the pair.
“He’s enjoying it, my queen. See how he leans into it. He wants so badly to open his mouth and accept it, don’t you little ghoul?”
Damien realized that the demon was making ‘little ghoul’ sound like ‘little girl’ as he spoke. He mustered all of his hatred and stared up at the demon, a smile crossing his features. Thank the goddess for reminding him what he truly was. He was a flesh eater. And he’d eaten the flesh of men before. Perhaps not this particular piece of flesh…but male flesh was still flesh.
Damien opened his mouth to snap off a certain dangling portion of flesh when he found his jaws locked open and a foreign invader jammed deep into his throat, Gaius’ laughter echoed through the warehouse as he grabbed Damien by the hair and did unspeakable things to him.
“Gaius. Don’t waste that beautiful thing on the likes of him. I still have needs. Do you have any idea how many centuries I’ve gone without? We have a lot of lost time to make up for.” Damien choked as Gaius made one last deep ramming motion then withdrew from his mouth, releasing his grasp and allowing him to collapse to the floor. He could hear his goddess purring as Gaius turned and marched back to her.
“Don’t forget the water and the wine.” The door slammed shut and Damien curled into a ball again.
From scourge of the vampire world to demon fluffer. Could my life get any worse?
15
Mark stepped from the showers and wrapped the towel around his middle. He stepped to the next room and unzipped his shave kit. He flipped on the hot water and wet his razor then set it aside as he picked up the shave gel. Squirting a small gob in his palm he worked it into a lather, then spread it on his face and rinsed his hands. Picking up his razor he glanced into the mirror and paused. His eyes dropped to the top of his chest and the barely visible scar that hardly showed up in his reflection. He stepped back and stood taller, taking in his full abdomen. Nearly all of the scars were faded to nothing. He let out a low whistle and shook his head. “Why doesn�
�t this scare the ever loving dogshit out of me?”
“Yo, asshole. I thought you were near death?”
Mark spun and saw Dom leaning against the far wall, smiling at him. “The rumors of my death have been wildly exaggerated.”
“Apparently.” Dom stepped closer and glanced at his chest. “You got infected, huh.” It was obviously a statement.
Mark shrugged. “It’s looking like it.” He turned and wet his razor again, dragging it across his face, being careful to follow the lines of his goatee. “The real question is, ‘with what’?”
Dom watched him go through the motions a moment then shrugged. “Does it matter what it was if it’s keeping you alive?”
Mark paused in mid stroke and stared at Dom’s reflection. “I would think it matters.” He went back to shaving, trying to concentrate on not cutting his own throat. “I don’t want to transform into something we don’t understand and hurt my family.”
Dom nodded as he considered the possibilities. “I thought we were pretty positive that it was a bunch of wolves that attacked the hangar.”
Mark shrugged as he rinsed his razor and brought it back to his face. “Yeah, it sure looked like a wolf that tore my guts out.” He shuddered involuntarily as the memories resurfaced. “But what if it was somehow Doc that infected me instead? He said that the wolf never bit me. It was all claw marks. No teeth were involved.”
Dom watched him curiously a moment then stepped forward and jerked Mark’s arm. “Hey! What the…son of a bitch. You made me cut myself. Now I’m bleeding.”
Dom smiled. “You’ll live.” He raised a brow. “So it must be wolf. If it were vampire, your heart wouldn’t be beating.”
“You need a beating.” Mark muttered as he rinsed away the shave cream and dabbed at the cut. It was nearly healed before he could pull out his septic stick. “Son of a…well.” He slumped his shoulders and dropped the septic stick back into his shave kit.
“Like I said. If you were infected with vampirism, you’d be dead. No heartbeat, no bleeding.”
Mark glared into the mirror. “Thanks for the lesson.” He watched Dom through the corner of his eye as he finished shaving.
“Hey, you won’t age as fast. And you’ll get stronger.”
Mark glanced into the mirror and squared his shoulders. “I didn’t think it would be this quick.” He flexed his arms in the mirror and shot Dom a smirk.
Dom’s brows creased. “It usually isn’t.” He stepped closer and stared at Mark. “You look…bigger.”
Mark pulled out his towel and glanced down. He shot Dom a smile. “Thanks for noticing.”
“That’s not what I…” Dom threw his hands up in surrender. “I’ll take your word on that one.”
Mark rinsed his face with steaming hot water and tossed his stuff back into the shave kit. “All I know is I’m freaking starving. Like, all the time.”
Dom nodded knowingly. “It will subside. Probably after the full moon.” He looked up suddenly. “You are on the bane, right?”
“Doc put me on it right away, just in case. Looks like it was a damn good thing he did.” Mark tucked his shave kit under his arm and made his way to the locker room. “Now that I’m healed up, I can’t wait to get back to work. I need the distraction.”
Dom followed him. “You sure the Colonel will be okay with it? I mean, you were near dead just a few hours ago.”
Mark shrugged as he opened his locker and pulled out his spare uniform. “I don’t care what he says. I need the distraction. I’ll go stir crazy if he makes me sit out any longer.”
“What does the missus think of you just jumping back into the fray?”
Mark paused and stared at her picture in his locker. He gave a slight shrug and shook his head. “I sent her home. She doesn’t need to worry if I’m going to pull through and…honestly? Her sitting by my side was making me a nervous wreck.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
Mark sighed and sat down hard on the bench. “Dom, I didn’t ask her for her input, okay? I just told her to go home and rest. I’m healed up, bouncing off the walls with energy and…” He turned and stared at the big man. “I needed to get back to work so I have something to do.”
“I think I understand.” Dom sat next to him and patted his shoulder. “Really. I think I understand where you’re coming from. But remember, she’s supposed to be your number one priority. Not this job. Not the next mission. And certainly not Mitchell.”
Mark turned and stared at him as if he were daft. “Duh.”
Dom chuckled. “So don’t keep her out of the loop. Even the little stuff. Include her. Unless she tells you to knock it off, let her know. Because it’s her job to worry and believe me, she will.”
“So how long have you been married to her?” Mark smirked at him.
Dom stood and held his hands up in surrender. “I had a mom, dude. I remember.”
“Thank you, Doctor Phil.” Mark pulled on his boots and laced them tight. “But if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to finish dressing then sneak off to the chow hall and eat a cow or two.”
“If you ask nicely, they’ll even knock off the horns for you.” Dom patted his shoulder as he passed by him in the narrow passage. “Just remember to keep her in the loop and maybe she’ll let you live.”
“And don’t hump her leg, no matter how good she looks in that dress. Got it.”
*****
“So that’s the thing?” Jack stared at the small stone on Kalen’s wrist and shook his head. “And you can talk to her any time you want?”
“Not any time I want, but any time she wants to reach me, she can.” Kalen shrugged. “I’m not supposed to tell anybody who isn’t Elf about the stone, but you are my leader. You must be able to trust me Chief Jack.”
Jack sat back in his chair and gave Kalen a long, hard stare. “Are you breaking some kind of code or rule or something by letting me in on this?”
Kalen shrugged again. “In a way, yes.”
“So, you broke the rules?” Jack raised a brow at him.
Kalen nodded. “In order that you might better understand how the Wyldwood speaks with me so often. It isn’t that she refuses to speak with you, it’s just much easier for her to speak with me.”
“When she does, will anybody close to you be able to see her? Hear what she’s saying?”
Kalen shook his head. “The stone is designed so that only the bearer can communicate with it.”
“So.” Jack rocked forward and got to his feet. “I guess that makes you my radioman.”
Kalen gave him a confused look. “I’m sorry Chief Jack. I do not…”
“You’ll be in charge of communications.” Jack poured a cup of coffee and returned to his desk. “At least, with the Wyldwood. And do me a favor, the next time you talk to her, find out who our missing player is and when we can expect him. Or her.”
“Yes, sir.” Kalen swallowed hard. “There is one thing I need to speak with you about.”
“Let me guess. The Wyldwood told you something.”
Kalen nodded and seemed to squirm in his chair. “Yes, she did mention another, but not a warrior.”
“Great. Somebody we need to hunt down?” Jack sipped the coffee and grimaced.
“No sir.” Kalen hesitated slightly. “Have you ever dealt with griffins?”
Jack raised both brows on that one. “Griffins?” He shook his head as he thought back through his numerous missions. “Not that I can recall. Actually, to be honest, I thought they were fables.”
“We’re supposed to find a griffin named Allister. He will be your aid. A Second, if you will.” Kalen’s eyes searched Jack’s face but the man remained stoic.
“A Second?” Jack sipped his coffee again. “I thought you were going to be my Second.”
“As did I.” Kalen looked away. “The Wyldwood claims that Allister brings much ancient knowledge that will help us.”
“Ancient knowledge?”
Kalen nodded avoidin
g Jack’s gaze still. “Griffins are very studious and much of history is handed down from generation to generation orally. They have fantastic memories, and Allister is a very old griffin. He knows much.”
“Great. A smart bird.” Jack sipped his coffee again and considered having to work with a griffin. “I guess we can put down a lot of newspapers.”
Kalen gave him a surprised stare. “No! Chief Jack, griffins are not simply birds. They are majestic creatures.”
Jack leaned forward and stared at him. “When you talk to them, do you, or do you not, speak to a bird head?”
“Well, yes. Technically their faces appear like an eagle, but they are more…”
“Like I said. A smart bird. May as well be a parrot.” Jack leaned back and finished his coffee setting the cup down hard. “Is there anything else she may have slipped in during the conversation?”
Kalen opened his mouth to argue but held his tongue. He shook his head. “No, sir.”
“Very well.” Jack waved him out with his hand. “Until this talking bird shows up, you’re still my Second. Just keep on eye on Brooke. Something tells me she’s going to test you.”
Kalen nodded and stood to leave. “Technically, we need to go in search of Allister.”
Jack raised a brow at him. “If parrot boy is supposed to work with us, our paths will cross.” He gave Kalen a wink. “But if Loren gives you an address, maybe we can stop by and pay him a visit.”
Kalen smiled then turned to leave. Jack called out to him as he reached for the door, “I meant what I said about Brooke. When me and the Colonel are locked up, don’t be surprised if she tests you.”
Kalen opened the door and turned to face him. “I’d be disappointed if she didn’t.”
*****
Mick walked back through the passenger compartment and noticed Jennifer turning away from him. He paused only a moment at the brush off and instead turned to Laura. “We’ll be landing shortly. If you’ll make arrangements…” His voice sounded almost mechanical.
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